defend her title By Nigel Henderson Deputy Sports Editor Winner of two successive women's marathons and holder of the course record Yelena Plastinina will not be taking the tape for a third successive year at the new Millennium's first Bermuda International Race Weekend.

The Ukrainian, who set a record when she clocked 2:40.50 in 1998 and followed up with a courageous victory last year, has instead become embroiled in tape of the red variety.

Officially, the reason given for her absence is that, in this crucial Olympic year, she feels that she can run a faster time at the rival Houston marathon.

But it is likely her decision not to return has been affected, at least in part, by difficulties with her papers following a private trip to Bermuda for a holiday back in June.

International Race Weekend Committee Chairman Philip Guishard told The Royal Gazette : "I'm informed that she was initially stopped from boarding a flight from the US to Bermuda because her papers were not in order. She may not want to risk difficulties in getting back into the US from Bermuda after the race.'' The men's event has been similarly devastated with the news that the team of Russians who had been expected to travel to Bermuda -- among them two-time runner-up Eduard Toukhbatulin -- had been advised that their sponsorship had been withdrawn.

In their place Guishard has recruited fellow Russian Aleksey Balosludstev, who has a personal best of 2:14.55 set in his home country in May, and Moroccan El Afoui Boubker, the winner of the Casablanca Marathon in 1999 in a time of 2:10.44.

Boubker, also a winner of marathons in Caen, France and Bratislava, Slovakia in 1999, will represent Morocco at the Sydney Olympics and now emerges as favourite for the Bermuda race, especially as last year's winner Kenya's Simon Cheregony, won't be back.

Cheregony, who moved to the front early in 1999 and never relinquished that lead to record the event's eighth fastest time of 2:20.14 in his first outing at the distance, expressed a desire to run in the 10K rather than defend his title.

Guishard, happy that the 10K field is strong enough, withdrew the invitation.

That said, last year's men's 10K winner David Lewis, from England, is ruled out by injury, while women's winner, Canadian Courteney Babcock, only confirmed she would be defending her title late yesterday.

Previous calls to her Montana training base had gone unanswered.

Meanwhile Paul Freary, a five-time winner of the half-marathon, fancies his chances in the 10K this time out, telling organisers he is in the best shape he has ever been in at this time of year and is training particularly hard.

But he can expect tough opposition from Americans Bryan Spoonire and Michael Donnelly, who are both affiliated with big-name shoe companies, and Canadian Christian Weber, currently his nation's 10K track champion and a cross country runner of note who finished third last year.

Another Moroccan, Said Guermali, has a personal best of 27:52 for the distance and has been making a name for himself in road events in Europe in recent months.

Record-breaker: Yelena Plastinina checks her time during last year's marathon.

The Ukrainian won a second successive title but needed medical treatment after collapsing near the end of the race.

RUNNING RUN